Over the last several weeks I’ve been receiving many requests to update some broken links on my blog. As you may remember, the EPN Blog morphed from the El Paso News Blog after some Russian hackers crashed my site in 2017. The change in the domain name caused many links to break. Fixing the broken… Read More Year-End File Cleanup
During the controversy over the El Paso ballpark there were many rumors about impropriety. Many were true and others were wrong. One of the longest running controversies involved the improper election interference benefiting Steve Ortega’s run for mayor. Ortega lost. However, the election subterfuge with the bond monies for the ballpark cost the taxpayers of… Read More It’s the Emails Dummy
(CORRECTION: This post was updated on 26, Feb, 2017 at 10:50ET to correct a mistake about the fireman. The commissioner’s son was approved for a SHIP program that has been alleged should not have been approved.) You all remember Jane Shang, right? If you don’t, that’s ok, let me give you a quick reminder. On… Read More You All Remember Jane Shang?
As most of you know, on December 20, 2016, there was an altercation between Oscar Leeser and Ann Morgan Lilly at Thyme Matters. A police report was filed and an investigation ensued. There was no prosecution of E.R. “Rut” Lilly because the District Attorney, Jaime Esparza, determined that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. The… Read More Documents Detailing Oscar Leeser and Ann Morgan Lilly Tiff at Thyme Matters
Veronica Escobar argued to the Texas Attorney General that her years-long friendship with Susie Byrd is reason sufficient to exclude her from the Texas Public Information Act – and the Texas AG bought into that argument. That is the essence of Escobar’s reasons for not releasing the public information records about El Paso Police Chief… Read More Texas Attorney General Exempts Friends from Freedom of Information
Recently, Thomas Dorman embarked on gathering as many open records documents as possible in regards to the recent pay raises for the county commissioners. Dorman has so far gathered almost 200 files containing hundreds of pages of information. He has kindly shared the documents with me and has asked that I make them available to… Read More A Call for Crowd Sourcing Open Records Documents
Some of you may have noticed that the SocialUnwind.com site, where I was storing open records documents, is no longer working. Unfortunately, I was in a rush a few days ago and I inadvertently crashed the site. To make matters worse, I broke my number one rule – take a snapshot of the site before… Read More A Public Documents Archive
Friday, by the end of the day you and I, will find out what Veronica Escobar intends to do with the public documents about Greg Allen that she has refused to release to the public. As you likely know, earlier this month I received a copy of a letter that the Texas Attorney General sent… Read More What Will Veronica Escobar Do?
Yesterday I received a response to the complaint I filed with the Texas Attorney General’s office where I complained that Veronica Escobar unilaterally decided that she could decide what documents were public records and which ones were not. As you might remember, on August 3, 2016, I posted a blog explaining how Veronica Escobar appointed… Read More Attorney General of Texas Orders County Attorney to Release Records
During city council’s discussion (item 33.1) last week about Cortney Niland asking that the city rescind its prohibition of electronic devices at the city dais during city council meetings, there was another elected official whose government transparency notions need to be scrutinized. As you know, Niland has told you that she will not follow the… Read More Jim Tolbert and the Art of Hypocrisy About Transparency
Last Tuesday, at the city council meeting, Cortney Niland told voters that she will not follow the rules set for city council meetings. Her outburst came during the discussion for agenda item number 33.1, which Niland added to the agenda, asking for council to resend its rule prohibiting the use of telephones and other devices… Read More Cortney Niland Tells Voters She Will Not Follow Rules
There was a recent controversy on an El Paso historical Facebook page and an El Paso website over the misappropriation of a picture of Chicos Tacos. The picture, apparently taken from the website and posted on the Facebook page resulted in the temporary banning of an individual. Looking at the back-and-forth comments it soon became… Read More Peter Svarzbein Misusing City Resources for Personal Gain
Those of you that follow my blog regularly know that I and other individuals were recently blocked by the individuals managing the official Twitter account for the El Paso Police Department. As you may know, my blog Twitter account was blocked by the team managing the police department. A few days ago I found out… Read More El Paso Police Twitter Team Unblocked Me
As you all likely know, last week I revealed to you how Veronica Escobar has unilaterally decided that any emails, text messages or any other communications on her private devices regarding the letter to repudiate El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen are not public information. Some of you may have seen the August 4 coverage… Read More I Need Your Help to Force Veronica Escobar to Release Public Records
Yesterday I gave you an example of how an email between two elected officials; actually Donald Trump has not been elected yet, but roll with me, and pretend that he has. As you likely surmised by now, Veronica Escobar is the elected official that has decided that she is the only judge of what is… Read More Veronica Escobar Decides That She is the Only Qualified Person to Determine Whether Her Email is Subject to Open Records
As many of you know, I have been having an ongoing issue with the City of El Paso and how they handle open records requests. I am not the only one, as other bloggers and even the El Paso Times has documented instances where the city has failed in its obligations towards transparency. I have… Read More Open Records Dilemma – A Three-part Investigation
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, my request regarding Jim Tolbert’s use of social media got me thinking about officials using private devices and how that affects open records requests. On July 13, 2016 I posted “Jim Tolbert Open Records Requests and Social Media Channels”. As I wrote on that post, I had started to… Read More Private Devices and Open Records Documents
I recently filed several open records requests in order to conduct a test on how public officials are using technology and how it affects open records requests. The comments made by El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen, about the Black Lives Matter group gave me an opportunity to experiment. I will share with you more… Read More A Chill Between Veronica Escobar and Claudia Ordaz?
If I wrote that the North Korean government has blocked me from viewing their Twitter feed, you probably wouldn’t be at all surprised. Many of you also know that I have been extremely critical of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for the last year, or so, and thus you wouldn’t be surprised if I told… Read More Is Police Department Criminally Blocking Twitter Access
Since Jim Tolbert took office on May 17, 2016, I have noticed a few constituency requests being made of him through Facebook. These requests got me thinking about government transparency and social media channels. Do not get me wrong, at this point, Facebook requests and most other social media channel requests seem to me to… Read More Jim Tolbert Open Records Requests and Social Media Channels
Open records laws are supposed to be about unhindered access to government records. They are supposed to empower the citizenry to hold their elected officials accountable to them. Accessing government records should not require anyone to look for a needle in a haystack without a magnet. My experience with the City of El Paso has… Read More I Believe That the City of El Paso Criminally Violated the Texas Public Information Act
In the last two weeks, two computer system hacks that dumped private data on the web has put an uncomfortable light on Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto. Most individuals that I speak to usually have the misconception that Mexico is a little sleepy siesta country where beaches and Tequila go hand in hand. Obviously, corruption,… Read More Mexican Political Intrigue as Defined by Hackers and Off-Shore Accounts
As you likely know by now, Larry Romero submitted written responses to the Ross Fisher questionnaire on March 15, 2016. As with all controversies, it comes down to who is telling the truth. After reviewing Romero’s answers I looked to see what information, if any, I could independently verify. Official business should generate supporting documentation… Read More Someone is Clearly Lying
Typical El Paso politicians, the discussion item posted by Emma Acosta asking to limit access to open records requests turned into a comedy of backtracking and cover your behind for a politician looking to run for the mayoralship soon. In a professional environment, Acosta’s item would never had made it onto the agenda. Even if… Read More The Politics of Corruption and Open Records Rhetoric
Last Wednesday, February 2, 2016, the County released a document to me that they had withheld from an open records request that I had filed back on October of 2015. The document is a summary of the 407(f) Deferred Compensation Plan Agreement for Jim Valenti, that the county’s attorney had prepared. It was marked “Privileged… Read More County Releases Withheld Document to Me
On November 30, 2015, the University Medical Center of El Paso (UMC) issued a press release where it stated that UMC had nominated four individuals to the reconstituted children’s hospital board. They are: Ronald Acton, Miguel Fernandez, Patrick Gordon and Ted Houghton. Additionally, the press release listed: Jaime Barceleau, Gilberto Moreno, Jr., and Lynn Coyle… Read More The Nominating Process for El Paso Children’s Board Appointments
On October 9, 2015, I submitted an open records request to the county commissioners asking for communications and documents in regards to Steve Norwood’s termination as the county’s first County Administrator. A frequent reader that wishes to remain anonymous had suggested that I submit the request. On Monday, November 3, 2015, I received about 130… Read More Open Records Show Reasons for the Termination of Steve Norwood
Tomorrow’s city council agenda has an interesting agenda item up for discussion. In item 18.1, Emma Acosta is asking to have a “discussion and action to initiate policy/ordinance that any Open Records Request (ORR) by a City Representative, all such request(s) must be paid for and that the use of staff time spent in hours… Read More Emma Acosta Wants City Representatives to Pay More for Open Records Requests
Yesterday, Stephanie Townsend Allala sent out a news release advising that the Texas Supreme Court denied her petition to review her open records case. On August 1, 2014, the Texas Court of Appeals of the Third District rendered a judgment refusing to give Stephanie Townsend Allala the opportunity to determine whether the City had, in… Read More Texas Supreme Court Declines to Review Townsend Allala Case
Last week I received a tip from a reader that wishes to remain anonymous. The reader shared with me information about a new consulting group offering consulting services to political candidates. According to the reader, Hector Montes and Stephanie Townsend Allala are providing consulting services to some candidates in the upcoming election in May. The… Read More Attorney, Former Television and Radio Personalities Provide Consulting for Politicians
As most of you already know, city council last week ordered the city attorney to bring forth an ordinance requiring any city council member to gather two additional signatures in order to put something on the agenda for discussion and action. Today, city council is expected to vote on the item. As I wrote last… Read More City Council To Vote On Democracy Today
I do not know if I have the worst luck or that I’m just the target of the city’s attempt to keep me from receiving information via the Texas Public Information Act. I have shared with you numerous examples of where the information given to me is either contradictory via two sets of open records… Read More City Releases Public Information That They Denied Me Back in November 2014
The latest developing political scandal involving a potential presidential candidate clearly reveals that the United States has lost its right to call itself a bastion of Democracy. As an outsider, I have witnessed the notion of “exceptionalism” from the United States. I continuously questioned how that notion has been allowed to perpetuate itself across the… Read More Hillary Clinton: A political culture of elitism
All those that argued that Stephanie Townsend Allala’s quest for government transparency was wrong owe her an apology. This is especially true of the El Paso Times masquerading as a newspaper who did not understand that allowing the Steve Ortega’s of the world to hide government records through legal subterfuge goes against the very fabric… Read More Stephanie Townsend Allala is Owed an Apology
The ongoing bathroom debacle at the San Jacinto Park clearly demonstrates a dysfunctional El Paso city government. As if the fact that restrooms aren’t important enough for the focal point of the much-touted downtown revitalization project the excuses after excuses mounted by the dysfunctional city council betrays the utter stupidity that drives city government. The… Read More City Incompetence on Display with San Jacinto
The problem with holding government accountable is the games government plays to delay or impede accountability. Constituents can ask questions or demand accountability but the politicians game the system in order to keep the shenanigans in play. The understanding is that government is accountable and transparent while the reality is another thing altogether. This is… Read More Holding Government Accountable Is Impossible
I received a lot of feedback on my post about whether The Children’s Hospital should be accountable to the taxpayers. Surprisingly all of it was supportive. Many, if not all of you seem to agree with me. Online, an anonymous commenter left some excellent points about how to proceed on this issue. Offline, many of… Read More El Paso Children’s Hospital Needs to Disclose Finances
The US government released the long-delayed report on the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Because of the importance to public discourse that this report will create, I believe it is important to make it available to the community as quickly as possible. Those who are interested in reading it can download it here. Please keep… Read More The Torture Report
The recent public debacle between city council and the city attorney’s office led me to file open records requests asking for information for amounts paid to outside law firms for legal work for the city. As expected, the largest expenditure paid by the taxpayers to outside law firms involves the issue regarding emails and open… Read More City Payments to Outside Law Firms
No matter how much things change the more they stay the same. I do not trust the city to give me accurate and up to date information pursuant to my open records requests. It is a constant battle trying to pry information from the city that results in unnecessary work and erroneous information. Whether this is… Read More Monkey Business with Open Records Requests At The City